Chapter 82: Soul Scourge (1/2)
After leaving the café, Rakna and Kaelith truly began to explore the town in a relaxed manner, with the former even agreeing to get along with the vixen's whims. Their banter hadn't changed in the slightest nor were they acting differently but they were clearly more comfortable around each than they were an hour prior.
”What about this one?” Kaelith asked as she came out of the dressing room wearing a completely new attire. She sported an embroidered beige sweater and a long black skirt. Though, the major novelty was her hair. She had tied it into a ponytail which she arranged over her right shoulder.
Along with the contrast of colors, this gave her a dazzling quality. Compared to her usual crimson dresses, this made her look more refined and mature.
Even Rakna had to admit that. He was apathetic, not blind. ”Though, I will never understand why women always want to show off clothing before buying it,” he uttered out loud.
”Come on, it's obvious, wolfy. Why do you think we refine our appearance every day?” She said while putting a hand on her hip. ”It's to appeal. You can consider yourself to be the… beta tester of my attractiveness.”
”Grand words coming from someone who grumbles about how many people want to bed her.”
”This is this and that is that. You don't expect me to bend my pride over some trash that I couldn't even be bothered to look at, do you? It's about self-worth.”
”Fair enough,” Rakna shrugged and observed her as he leaned against the wall next to the dressing room. He opened his mouth after a few seconds, ”Yeah, you look good. That hairstyle suits you a lot too. It could probably enhance your more… vivacious outfits as well.”
Kaelith giggled and did a full spin before nodding to herself. ”I agree. A change of air was already quite overdue, honestly,” she said and headed to the counter to buy both the clothes she was wearing and a small pile she was carrying before putting them in her storage.
After that, they left the shop and spent the next two hours going around, visiting everything that struck their fancy. Among them, the ones that stood out the most were a small museum exhibiting fossils found under the swamps and the library from which Rakna bought a few books that he had found interesting.
When they were about to end their little tour, they sat down at a local park, in front of a pond with surprisingly clear water compared to what the rest of the Fifth Plateau had to offer.
”So, what do you plan to do while you recover?” Kaelith asked as they watched a stream of fish swim around in the water, following Pronos who was enjoying the feeling of being submerged.
”I don't know. I'll either train, sleep, or read.”
She raised an eyebrow. ”Train? In that state? You'll hurt yourself.”
”I never specified what kind of training. There are other things to train other than the body and magic,” Rakna retorted and stood up before walking to the edge of the pond. He crouched there and tapped the surface of the water with his finger. He watched closely as the ripples formed and spread in every direction.
Kaelith cocked her head to the side and looked on from her seat. Soon enough, her interest turned into amazement as the fish of the pond swarmed in front of Rakna and stuck their heads out of the water as if they wanted to jump out.
Meanwhile, Rakna simply stared at them, seemingly doing nothing. But his eyes were releasing a very inconspicuous light. Truthfully, you couldn't even call it light. It was bright but colorless and the way it undulated from the depths of his pupils made it look like a liquid.
The details behind what Rakna was doing were summarized by two System windows.
⠀
❮ ◈ ❯
⠀
Through executing a specific action, you have learned a new skill; Soul Sense.
---
⠀
Soul Sense (Lv.1): The ability to sense and visualize the souls of other beings. The larger and brighter the soul, the mightier the holder is. Their specific shapes and colors also refer to different elements. The range varies depending on the level of the skill.
---
⠀
Through executing a specific action, you have learned a new skill; Soul Scourge.
---
⠀
Soul Scourge (Lv.1): The ability to harness soul power and apply it outside of the body. By extending its influence onto other living beings, it is possible to make them enter a hypnotic state, manipulate them, or even hurt them.
Subjugating targets becomes substantially harder if their soul and mental power are either close to the user's or above it.
⠀
Note: Keep in mind that overuse of one's soul power can lead to soul suicide. The System does not manage its consumption and recommends the user to be vigilant.
---
⠀
Eyes of the Soul has leveled up! X2
⠀
❮ ◈ ❯